The Midwives Of Invention

If necessity is indeed the mother of invention, school and town officials are now facing a difficult period of gestation in their continuing efforts to accommodate the swelling student population at Newtown High School. With a student population of 1,600-plus, and an additional 200 students projected to attend classes at NHS by 2012-13, the high school will be short of space by over 34,000 gross square feet in seven years, according to state Department of Education standards. Think of it this way: Newtown High School will have to find space roughly the size of the defunct Grand Union store on Queen Street by 2012.

Last December, the High School Space Needs Committee heard a report from C.J. Lawler Associates of West Hartford, which concluded that the school district needed to find a 40- to 45-acre site away from the current Newtown High School campus to construct a facility to accommodate 250 to 300 students. All eyes turned to Fairfield Hills and Kent House, which has, in concept, been earmarked for possible school use. Two years ago, the cost estimate for a new 500-student facility was estimated at $25 million. That estimate has since climbed to $28 million, although the Board of Education has steadfastly listed the cost “TBD” (to be determined) for the purposes of the town’s capital improvement plan (CIP). The Board of Finance has slipped $10 million into the CIP as a “placeholder” for the school.

No matter how many millions a new facility will cost, it will be an expensive proposition — maybe too expensive for the town right now. The necessity is painfully obvious to everyone. What is needed now are people who can perceive the invention that will buy the school district a little more space and a little more time. That is why the High School Space Needs Committee has decided to solicit for a second opinion from a new consultant, Fletcher Thompson of Shelton, to study once again more creative options for expansion at the high school campus.

In addition, a diverse group of parents, teachers, administrators, and other townspeople formed a group called Coping With Growing Enrollment. The group viewed the problem of too little space as a chance to explore new educational approaches that might actually meet the challenge of a growing enrollment while creating new opportunities for students. The group’s initial recommendations focus on restructuring the high school schedule and academic programs for the senior year that would foster learning opportunities in the community and the workplace, providing a better transition to college and adult life.

These efforts may not fully address the acute need for more space at the high school, but it is gratifying to see people taking a challenging situation as an opportunity to be creative in finding a solution. More bricks and motor is always the simple answer — and the expensive answer. We might just come up with a better answer that benefits students and taxpayers alike thanks to the extra efforts and extra imagination of groups like the High School Space Needs Committee and Coping With Growing Enrollment. Necessity may be the mother, but these are the midwives of invention.